Primary Assessment Resources

Video One: New pre-key stage standards in primary schoolsAs recommended by the Rochford Review of assessment arrangements for pupils working below the standard of the national curriculum, from the academic year 2018/19 primary school teachers will use new pre-key stage standards for key stage 1 and key stage 2. In this video, Diane Rochford and Janet Thompson tell us more about the pre-key stage standards.

Video Two: National curriculum tests (SATs) at key stage 1Information for parents of pupils in year 2, typically aged 7, about assessments in May.

Video Three:National curriculum tests (SATs) at key stage 2Information for parents of pupils in year 6, typically aged 11, about assessments in May.

Leaflets: Key stage 1 and 2 National Curriculum TestsInformation leaflets for parents about end of key stage assessments (often referred to as SATs) for 7 and 11 year olds.

Primary Curriculum Resources

Giving young people the opportunity to try new things and develop new skills can be hugely beneficial. It can help children to grow in confidence, expand their understanding of the world around them, or introduce a hobby or passion that could last for years to come.

The Department for Education have published this passport of enrichment activities, which can be edited to adapt and build you own distinctive and inspiring range of activities. This is a great opportunity to involve parents and children together and to help make the activities part of everyday learning at home.

Supporting Resources:Enrichment activities, such as those included in the Department for Education’s (DfE) template, as well as resources you can use to help generate ideas for activities.

Our Parents Blog

We also have created a new blog for parents. This will be packed full of information and advice for you read and enjoy. Our latest post: 5 Science Experiments You Can Do At Home is well worth a read if you’re interested in engaging your children more with Science.

Private Music Lessons

Learning a Musical InstrumentAt Services For Education, we firmly believe that music has the power to encourage, transform and inspire, like no other art form can. Research shows that these changes can come in the form of improving well-being, instilling confidence, increased intellectual development, creating friendships, to name but a few.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

This is the space where you will find information, hints, ideas and strategies to help you support your child’s wellbeing, and some tips for you too.

Your child’s wellbeing is a key element of their potential to succeed in many areas of their life – socially, academically, in friendships, their behaviour.

Helping your child to recognise their emotions, encouraging them to talk about how they feel and what they are thinking is a first step to developing an understanding of good emotional health and this will be explored in future weeks and months.

Children should have the opportunity to explore, discuss and consider the role that their emotional health and wellbeing plays in their lives.

It can be hard to know where to start and how to start these conversations.

Childhood is an emotional time.

It is important that, as parents, we take the time to talk to our children about how they are feeling.

Feelings are not right or wrong, but they are very powerful. Most of the choices we make and the actions we take, are based on how we feel.

Being sensitive to and accepting of their feelings is vital if we are going to encourage them to share with us.

This means that we validate, not dismiss, what they are feeling, by saying:

“I can see that you are upset / angry / anxious”“I understand that (event) was difficult for you.”“I can understand why you feel …..”

These responses reassure a child because you are showing that you believe their fears to be real.

Rather than:

“There’s no need to get upset”“What are you getting angry for?”“Don’t make such a fuss / Don’t be silly”

These responses diminish a child’s feelings and suggest that they are not real or important.

Children rely on their parents to be a stable and steadying presence and knowing they will be heard, listened to, and allowed to have their feelings, is a valuable part of that relationship.

Take a look at our resource ‘Myg and Me’ for more on understanding anxiety and lots of self-calming strategies for your children, including relaxation and breathing exercises.

Top Tip: Children’s poor behaviour is almost always caused by tiredness, the need for attention, hunger or an emotion such as anxiety, frustration, fear, anger or……boredom.

We have some charming resources that schools use but that are also available to parents and carers, to help adults and children learn together.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Resources

Something Has Happened – Meet Joe. Something has happened that has upset Joe and he’s not sure what to do. Follow his story and, using the resource pack, explore the ways that Joe can find the help that he needs. This introduces children to recognising what their feelings are telling them, networks of trusted adults, and the skills of persistence and the importance of breaking the rules in an emergency.

Ruby Rafa and Riz. Feel Think and Do – Ruby, Rafa and Riz have lots of things in common and lots of differences. They also each experience something that affects how they feel, what they think and finally what they do. This resource is unique in its approach to showing children how their feelings and thoughts affect the way they behave.

Myg and Me – We all feel anxious at times, and that is OK. This resource will help your child to understand a little bit about their brain and why we all feel anxious at times. The resource will then help you to introduce your child to a wide range of activities and strategies to help them to manage their anxious feelings and to calm themselves when needed.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is the process of protecting children (and vulnerable adults), and providing safe and effective care.

Safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility and schools have a legal duty to ensure that all of their staff receive regular training in Safeguarding.

Most schools deliver this training at the start of every school year.

Recently more and more organisations that work with children, such as sports clubs, scouts, youth clubs, have tightened their Safeguarding procedures, including ensuring that staff:

Are safe to work with children

Understand their duties with regard to Safeguarding

Know what action they need to take if they believe a child is being harmed or at risk of being harmed (Child Protection)

Safeguarding is a fundamental part of being a parent or carer. This page will look at information, advice and resources that can help you to be more informed.

Safeguarding Resources

Services For Education – Online Safeguarding CourseDo you work with children on a paid or voluntary basis? Perhaps you run a club or help out with extra-curricular activities? Services For Education is a trusted provider of safeguarding training in the UK, offering online, face-to-face and bespoke options for organisations and individuals. We have created an online safeguarding course for anyone who works with children, enabling them to stay up to date and show that they are fulfilling their duty of care.

Safeguarding Questions For Parents and Carers Draft Guidance– December 2018This draft guidance from the Department for Education, is non-statutory. It is intended to be a voluntary resource to help parents and carers who choose to have their children attend out-of-school settings (OOSS) understand what a safe environment looks like.

Internet Safety Videos From NSPCC and BBC

This fantastic set of animations from the CEOP Education team is aimed at children between four and seven years old and will help protect them from sexual abuse and other risks associated with being online.

Parenting Group – UCBAn informal drop-in group for parents with concerns about their child or teenager and any of these issues.

For the second year we are delighted to offer a series of courses to support those whom educate their children at home in Birmingham. We have a series of two hour courses covering English, Maths, Science and Emotional Health at Primary and Secondary.

The courses are free to attend and are designed to give you support and practical strategies, and signpost you to free and easily available resources to help you give your children the best possible home educational experience.

Ensembles

At Services For Education, we believe that the ensemble experience is absolutely crucial to any high-quality musical education.

That’s why, every year we bring together over 2,000 young musicians from across Birmingham, to form over 70 ensembles, which are free to join, and are specifically designed to cater for all genres and abilities.

We run two types of Ensembles in Birmingham; Central Ensembles which require an audition and Area Ensembles which do not.